Assuming you can print all 3 perfectly and not taking into account their own little printing quirks. Based purely on strength and practicality, what would you print your Taz/Mini replacement parts with? Ive printed with PLA, ABS and HIPS and I’ve been having good results with them (Im starting to like HIPS a lot), and I know PLA is out of the question for most parts that are near the hot end. Just got a couple of spools of PETG. What are your thoughts?
For what it’s worth, I printed the z-wobble mod using PETG and as far as I can tell, it works just fine. PETG is a bit more flexible than ABS, but at the full and sheer density of the objects, you’d be hard pressed to find any flex in these parts.
For narrower parts, ABS will have greater rigidity, so that would be my go-to material for things like extruded parts.
I don’t have experience with HIPS, so can’t help there.
Of those, ABS is the strongest. For gears etc, that’s probably the best choice. For parts that aren’t under as much stress, I would think the others would be fine, but I’ve never tried it, I’m guessing. I believe all printed parts from AO are ABS, which makes me think it’s probably the best option for replacements.
There might be some improvement to be had printing gears out of Nylon, but it’s probably not worth the added cost.
I’ve done things like the Gear Bearing from thingiverse in all three. ABS is the most rigid, HIPS and PETG both had more flex in the outer ring. Printing it thicker helps there, but that’s not always an option for replacement parts.
I have used ABS, HIPS, and PETG for new print heads. I have used PETG for all the parts in my TAZ 5.5 build (TAZ 6 mechanicals with TAZ 5 electronics). All have worked just fine.